By the healthiergang writer , student in Medicine and Surgery.
Skipping rope
In the world of modern fitness and with the explosion of Functional Training and Circuit Training, more and more alternative ways are being developed to test one's physique and athletic condition. Among these we certainly find the training carried out with ropes.
We are essentially talking about three types of rope: Jumping Rope or commonly jump rope, the Battle rope, which is a heavy rope like those of a sailor, with a length that can oscillate between 9 and 15 meters, and the climbing rope, with a thickness similar to battle (28 to 50 mm) and a length from 2 to 5 meters.
1. Jumping Rope
As for the jump rope, it is the classic rope used to perform metabolic work and gain speed and alertness; it is used by the most diverse sportsmen but finds its maximum use in boxing, in combat sports in general and also in functional training competitions today.
It is certainly an excellent alternative to running or cycling if you do not have the opportunity to do other aerobic work or simply want to train at home.
As benefits we certainly find the lower joint impact, if compared with running, causing less stress on the knees and ankles, and has a higher caloric expenditure than a bike ride with the same training minutes (on average 360 Kcal every half hour of the first compared to 250 Kcal of the second).
As mentioned, you can train at home with an insignificant footprint of space and a really negligible cost: to begin with there are the basic ropes that cost a couple of euros, and then move on to the more professional ones that also reach 20-25 euro (but let's leave those to the connoisseurs!). To begin with, you just need to have a minimum of coordination between arms and legs, which will gradually be acquired with practice. The precautions to follow during the jump are:
- Try to move the wrists and not the shoulders when turning the rope, which allows for less general fatigue;
- Try to jump with feet together without kicking forwards or backwards, keeping the body aligned;
- Do not perform the exercise in apnea, but breathe regularly and take a short break if you get too tired, especially the first few times.
2. Battle Rope
The second type of rope, the Battle Rope, is very different from the first: it weighs an average of 9-10 kg (even 15-18 kg) and therefore it would be difficult to jump!
It is used as a tool to train strength and power, but also engages the cardiovascular system in an extraordinary way.
The price really fluctuates a lot, going on 60-70 euro for the cheaper ones to over 200 for the professional ones. This tool also found its beginnings in the world of wrestling as it is possible to reproduce many preparatory gestures to those used in MMA matches, Grappling and in contact sports, grips and pushes in general.
The most used movement is the front wave movement, alternating the two arms, or the side wave one, but in any case the type of exercises remains very wide, being able to combine the movement of the rope with jumps, lunges or other movements of the lower part of the body.
The various swings that are made engage the upper body, the Core, which must guarantee stability and discharge of the rebound forces on the ground, and in various ways the hip muscles (depending on whether the exercise is carried out with the pelvis locked or in movement). It is enough to find an anchor point, a pole, a handlebar, a kettlebell in order to make the rope turn around, being very careful not to use abrasive or sharp surfaces that could ruin it being made of nylon or hemp and therefore extremely susceptible, and the game is done.
To begin with, for beginners it is good to start with a lighter rope, about 9 kilograms and a thickness of 30-38 mm maximum, then a length of 8-9 meters, which may seem few but also put in difficulty even the most physically fit athletes. . The classic exercises are:
- The Waves that is, the formation of waves in any direction, both with alternating arms and with one arm at a time
- Battle Rope Slam, where with the same and simultaneous movement the arms throw the rope to the ground (slamball type) without ever letting go of the rope ends
- Le Side to Side Pull or alternate pulls, where from the ground we must try to pull the rope towards us first on one side and then on the other.
3. Corda Da Rope Climb
The last type of rope that remains to be described is the one used in climbing, in the classic Rope Climb exercise. It combines strength, speed and coordination in various ways; to climb the rope you can use both legs and arms and exploit only the traction force of the upper limbs.
It is one of the exercises that in the military field are used to evaluate the physical preparation of cadets and is widely used in modern functional fitness competitions because it puts the athletes' abilities to the test. The Legless variant provides that the legs do not wrap around the rope but are generally used as a pendulum to give the push and get to the top.
In both variants, the contribution of the core and hip muscles remains essential in order not to immediately bring the arms to exhaustion.
If we want to carry out a “only ropes” workout, we can think of structuring it in this way: 15 minutes of skipping rope as a warm-up, followed by 10 laps of 30 ”of Alternating Waves + 2 ropes Ascend + 100 rope jumps; in the end you will feel like you have pieces of wood instead of arms, but it's worth it! Good workout!
